CubbingorAutumnHuntingIt'sthesamething

Autumn Hunting is the hunter’s prelude to the new season. Often referred to by Hunts as ‘gentle training’ and classified as ‘suitable for younger members’, meaning that children from the Pony Club can attend.

So what is Autumn Hunting?

Autumn Hunting or ‘Hound exercise’ as the Hunt’s now refer to it, was previously known, more honestly, as ‘cubbing’. Hunting takes place ‘when the harvest allows’. It generally runs throughout September and October will start from ‘first light’ around 6 am.

The “Meets” as the hunts refer to them are held early in the morning as the scent of the fox’s is fresh and easier for the young hounds to pick up.

Hounds are trained on the scent of fox urine, that quickly evaporates in the warmth of the sun. ‘Meets’are sometimes held in the evening as well when the scent is again easier to pick up.

Hounds packs will be large, most of the hounds will be youngsters, trying to make the grade, but will include a few experienced hounds to lead the way. Hunt's claim “Hounds are ‘best-trained’ by killing lot’s of foxes”. “The hounds need to know to smell, look and taste ‘Charley”. Charley is a hunters name for the fox.

During September and October, Fox Cubs are preparing to leave their parents. Although these cubs resemble an adult in size, they are still babies and very curious and playful. During the day a Vixen will ‘hideout’ with her cubs undercover, often in thickets and copses.

Farmers and Gamekeepers are asked to let the Hunt know where the foxes are ‘hiding out’ Mounted hunt riders and people on foot will surround a thicket or copse; this is known as ‘holding up’.The vixen will be aware of the activity, but will not bolt because she has cubs. Anywhere a fox may live is referred to as a covert (pronounced with a silent ’t’) The hounds will be entered into the covert, often in complete silence from the hunt. The pack of 30 to 40 hounds will search for the foxes scent; if a cub tries to bolt the surrounding hunt will bang their saddles, crack their whips and shout ‘aye, aye, aye’ creating a cacophony of noise designed to scare the fox back into the waiting hounds. This is repeated until all the Fox family has been savaged in the jaws of the hounds.

Every so often, a very brave Fox will ‘bolt’ through “the wall of noise’ from the encircled hunt. These are known as ‘good foxes’ and are left to provide a ‘good-run’ in the full hunting season.This horrific scene is repeated as many times as possible with a hunt lasting three to four hours but in October they will hunt for up to six hours. These ‘Meets’ are held at up to four times each week, but not on Sundays.

Since the2005 Hunting Act came into effect, hunts now refer to this a ‘Hound exercise’ claiming it is“just part of the process of preparing their horses, hounds and ‘the country’ for the coming hunting season that will start in early November.Hunts do not wear ‘hunting pinks’ whilst ‘cubbing’, with most riders wearing beige riding jodhpurs and Blue or black jackets and caps. Some hunts wear grey or tweed jackets.

Autumn Hunting is illegal under the 2005 Hunting Act. And yet, at the time of writing, 12 years after the ban, hunts are still training hounds on fox urine (where do they get that from?) leading to the inevitable‘accidents’ that frequently occur during most ‘meets’ during the hunting season. An ‘accident’ is when the hounds ‘accidentally’ chase and kill a live fox, whilst supposedly following a pre-laid scent whilst Trail Hunting.

Since the introduction of the Hunting Act, it is clear that many hunts have blatantly flouted the law and have continued to hunt foxes. Save Me believes this must change and wants to see a strengthening of the Hunting Act and Enforcement of the act and stronger sentencing.

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Cubbing as described in an extract from Fox Hunting by the late Duke of Beaufort, Master of Fox Hounds, published by David & Charles, 1980.

Early in the morning a Hunt of mounted riders quietly surrounds a thicket they know to contain a family of foxes. The female fox or vixen hears the movement but will not leave her cover as she has cubs to protect. The huntsmen surround the thicket, they slap their saddles, holler and shout to prevent the fox and her cubs leaving the thicket. They want to have their fun.

The hounds are sent in and the vixen comes out to protect her cubs, young fox cubs do not have the skills and knowledge of their parents, they are playful and trusting and unlikely to flee danger. Their inquisitive nature ensures they investigate anything new.

Autumn Hunting refers to the period formerly known as "cubbing". Traditionally, this was the time when the new entry of hounds learned how to hunt their quarry. Meets were held early in the morning and the field was present to help "hold up" covert (i.e. prevent a fox from leaving the area). The hunt's riders surround the covert and shout and holler and slap their saddles, young riders shout and laugh in order to keep the cubs in the covert so the entry hounds can be sent in.

The dress code is different from formal hunting dress and is often referred to as "rat catcher". "Ratcatcher" refers to the tweed jackets that are worn. During the hunting season, between 8,400 - 10,000 of these are cubs. These cubs will not reach 6 months of age.

The registered packs are estimated to kill some 21,000 - 25,000 foxes a year. About 40% of the foxes killed by the registered packs are killed in the autumn/cub hunting season. In Wales and other upland areas, a high proportion of foxes are dug out, using terriers and shot. Outside the registered packs, many more foxes are dug out and shot or are killed by people using lurchers or other "long dogs". Some of these activities are carried out by farmers, landowners, and gamekeepers.

"Never lose sight of the fact that one really well-beaten cub killed fair and square is worth half a dozen fresh ones killed the moment they are found without hounds having to set themselves to the task. It is essential that hounds should have their blood up and learn to be savage with their fox before he is killed."

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Dofoxeshuntinpacks

No, they don't. Unlike wolves, foxes are solitary hunters which means that even if in some areas they may form groups, they hunt for food on their own. Fox cubs may sometimes be seen playing together with bits of food but this is simply a 'game' and adult foxes have never been reported hunting together.

Very occasionally cubs can be seen hunting with the vixen.

Dofoxesposeahealthriskinmygarden

There is no known case of people catching diseases from foxes or their droppings in Britain: you are vastly more likely to catch an infection from your pet cat or dog.

FamilyLife

Most people that have seen a fox have probably met just one animal on its own. Indeed since foxes travel and hunt on their own, they are said to be solitary animals. This is not to say that they avoid other foxes but to exemplify the fact they do not hunt in packs like some other canids, such as wolves. For a long time it was believed that foxes lived a solitary life, meeting only during the mating season, but now we know that this is untrue.

The dominant male and female fox form a pair that may last for life, i.e. foxes are generally monogamous. The pair travel, hunt and feed independently but occasionally meet, either briefly or for longer periods during which they play or groom each other. In some areas, such as in urban areas, it is common for some other adult foxes to be present in addition to the breeding pair. These additional animals (sometimes called helpers) are subordinate to the dominant pair and generally are offspring of the pair, which remained with their parents past the normal age of dispersal when the family should break up. So, in certain conditions, foxes live in social groups rather than solitarily.

Foxes are territorial animals, i.e. they defend the area where they live against other foxes. That said, the use of scent marking to delimit their own space is a very effective way of communication and neighbours normally avoid meeting each other. If neighbours do meet, these encounters are generally benign, avoiding direct fights. Foxes are more aggressive towards strangers rather than other neighbouring foxes. Because of this territorial behaviour, if a fox is removed for a length of time from its territory, another fox will move in. This means that eliminating one animal from an area does not eliminate the presence of foxes altogether. On the other hand, foxes can easily be excluded from certain areas using non-lethal control methods.

Willfoxesattackmydogorcat

This is extremely unlikely. Foxes avoid dogs, even small dogs, because many foxes are killed by dogs. So it is much more likely that your dog will attack the fox, not the other way round. Attacks on cats are equally rare: cats and foxes are roughly the same size, and cats are very capable of defending themselves against foxes. So it is hardly surprising that foxes generally give cats a wide berth and flee when threatened by a cat.

Occasionally small kittens are killed, but this is extremely rare. Keeping your cat indoors at night greatly reduces the chances of an encounter with a fox. There are also a variety of other benefits: cats kept in at night are healthier and live longer, and kill less of the local wildlife.

There are many cats and foxes in the UK and it is very rare to lose a cat to a fox. Cats kill cats and cats can be run over, foxes will eat a dead cat as they are the bin men of the wild and clear up carrion.

Foxes&Children

In June 1973 The Sunday Times carried an article warning about the threats posed by urban foxes. However the evidence is that no child in Britain has been killed or severely injured in the 80 years since foxes colonised our cities. There are occasional relatively minor incidents involving foxes and children, invariably described in the press as an "attack", although it is very unlikely that a fox deliberately seeks out a child to attack it. In contrast, every year children are severely injured, maimed, and killed by dogs, very often their own pets and not just the larger or more dangerous breeds. The risk posed by dogs vastly outweighs the risk posed by foxes.

DangerousDogs

256,000 people were bitten by dogs last year over 6,000 people were actually hospitalised by dog bites. We don't call for a cull every time a dog bites so why kill wildlife. It's sad that some media feel a need to vilify the fox. They are not a threat to humans.

NHS and Dog attacks- Animal bites (such as dog bites) and human bites are a relatively common type of injury. In most cases, the wound that results from an animal bite is minor and can be treated with simple first aid.

Daily Mail article on Dog attacks- Dog bite cases in casualty departments topped 6,000 for the first time this year, they show.The fast-growing medical caseload caused largely by out-of-control dogs was disclosed in NHS data at a time of deepening concern over the injuries caused by dangerous dogs. READ MORE

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